Scotland

 LYDIA SCOTLAND NEWSLETTER FEB 2011

Dear Lydias and Praying Friends,

At the beginning of 2011, I bring you greetings and love from the National Team. We pray that for you this will be a season of fresh vision and encounters with the Living God.

At the end of last year I had a picture of a small boat in a very choppy sea.  The words I heard was “maelstrom rising” and Jesus saying “it’s going to be rocky but I’m in the boat, keep pushing out and remember the words I’ve already given you”. I also saw a small pennant, which I now know to be called a burgee, above the boat with the words BE PREPARED on it. Apparently the burgee is what identifies the boat and to whom it belongs.

 I shared this at Team meeting and as we reflected and prayed, God took us to the well known gospel story [Mark 4/35-41]. The account begins with Jesus saying “let’s go over to the other side”, it was very choppy and the boat was nearly swamped. The disciples were in fear for their lives but Jesus was asleep, seemingly unconcerned.

You don’t need me to tell you these are turbulent times and many are feeling they are being sucked in and down. This is the meaning of maelstrom and it’s exactly what the enemy wants us to experience. To have a sense that we cannot stand, that we are going to be overwhelmed by what’s happening around us. However, as He did with the disciples, Jesus is telling us not to be afraid. We have to look ahead to where we’re going and to what He’s given us to do. We also need to recall the promises both in the prophetic words and also in scripture that He has already spoken. Unless our eyes are fixed on Him and our ears attuned to His voice then we will end up like the disciples, frightened and with a sense that we are drowning. I’m sure we would rather hear “your faith has saved you” than the words of Jesus to His disciples “do you still have no faith”?

It is often in the traumatic times that we have the opportunity to demonstrate what makes us different as Christians. We can be seen as people of faith who even in turmoil can say my God does enable me, He is the only one who can do the impossible. My God is not only a God of hope but also a God of help.

Last year at Conference we were blessed to have teaching on “Signs of the Times” We heard too how we can live in these days and not only be able to increasingly discern God’s word but also to be a prophetic voice in the nation. God had said He wanted to give us a new mantle to equip us for change, so everyone had the royal purple mantle put on them and all were anointed with the oil of “new hope”. We sensed God was confirming everything He has been doing in recent years in preparing us for “such a time as this”

BE PREPARED the words on the burgee on the boat and that is what we believe God is asking of us in this season, not just to be prepared ourselves but to encourage and help others to be ready and equipped and also to be alert for whatever maelstrom the enemy would seek to draw us into.

God has often used Lydia Fellowship as a fore-runner, a bit like John the Baptist, to prepare the way of the Lord. In this season I believe what God wants us ready for, and what God wants us to share, is about the approaching Second Coming of Christ.  Our sense is that God wants us to hold Days Apart in the north, south, east and west of our nation and to invite not just Lydias but any woman who is earnestly seeking the Lord and His Word for some understanding and guidance not just for the days that we are living in but also for what lies ahead. We hope that many of you and friends will be able to join us in your part of the country.  Scripture tells us no one knows the day or the hour when Christ will return except God the Father [Matt 24/36]. Many believe that day may not be far off. Are we ready to meet our Lord?

Over these last years the Lord has kept reminding us that we have to lay everything down, that all that has contaminated must be stripped away. So each one of us has to come before the Lord and seek His Holy Spirit illumination of our minds, hearts and spirits. We need His exposing of what has to be removed so that we will be as ready as we can be for the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus. Romans 3/10 says it all “As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one” and v 23 “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”

There is much discussion and dispute in the Church about the end days but one thing we can be sure of is that Jesus is coming again to earth, to defeat evil and to establish His reign of justice and peace   [1 Thess 4/13-18] Scripture warns us these will be perilous times [2 Tim 3/1-9] but as Paul says let US be bold for Christ, that OUR lives will always honour Christ, whether we live or die.

May the Lord bless you and keep you,

Love Anne